


Silent Night

by mad_hatter_9306



Series: The December Project [10]
Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Inspired by A Christmas Carol, M/M, Will's mandola, a bit of singing, i think so though, singing? idk we'll see
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28015554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mad_hatter_9306/pseuds/mad_hatter_9306
Summary: Will sings a song for Horace that he kept hearing
Relationships: Horace Altman & Will Treaty
Series: The December Project [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036164





	Silent Night

**Author's Note:**

> eek im sorry its late, i just. you know how i procrastinate, right? well i put it off and suddenly i had no more time. oops
> 
> anyways, its here now! right? i just hope i can do today's, too, without running out of time. lookin forward to the next one, actually! kay, so, song and ship:
> 
> characters: will and horace (ranger's apprentice)  
> song: ["Silent Night," by Straight No Chaser](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4-fhZOzdag)
> 
> i just really like straight no chaser and pentatonix, get used to it.
> 
> oh and btw, i may or may not do it the 15th/16th. i have a spontaneous writing prompt those days for my high school application for a high school i'd really like to get into, and so that certainly takes priority. i'll try to do those, but if i don't, i'm not gonna stress over it. probably. we'll see. (aah applying to high school is scary!!)
> 
> okie-dokie onto the story. hope you like it!

Will listened to the man singing as he sat quietly in the small tavern. He wondered idly if he could recreate it on his mandola just from memory. He decided not.

He heard the same song again from carolers as he made his way back to his campsite. And again in the next town over. And again, and again, and again. He remembered asking himself if he could do that on his mandola, and reconsidered the question.

A few nights later, he deemed it safe enough to pull his instrument from its case. Tug looked over at him, interested. "I'm trying that song I keep hearing," Will told him.

_I had gathered as much,_ Tug seemed to say. _Do you have any apples?_

"None. Sorry, Tug."

_Hmph._

Will plucked at the strings, adjusting them slightly until they were in tune. Then he tried out the first couple of bars. It sounded alright, so he kept going. Without an audience, he wasn't worried about cohesiveness, so he stopped and changed things and kept going, until he had reached the end of the song.

He practiced a few more times on the journey back to Redmont. He thought he was pretty good at it by the time he was home. He had also heard the carol many more times on his mission. He hummed it as he hunted Castle Redmont for Horace. Finally, he pulled a servant aside. "Have you seen Horace around?"

The servant started at his sudden appearance, then said, "Sir Altman? Last I heard, he was practicing. Though what he needs practice for, _I_ don't know."

"You can always improve your work," Will said distractedly before vanishing again.

At last he had found Horace. "Horace!" he called.

Horace swung his sword around in surprise. Then he relaxed when he saw Will. "Will! Good god, you shouldn't sneak up on me!"

"Sorry," Will grinned, not at all apologetic. "C'mon, there's something I want to show you."

Horace followed Will into the forest near the castle. He thought Will was taking him to the cabin, but Will led him deeper. Horace shivered slightly in the cold. Finally, they stopped. Will pulled out his lute, which Horace had barely noticed he was carrying.

Will quickly tuned it, then launched into song. "Silent night, holy night," he sang. "All is calm, all is bright."

Horace listened in awe, applauding when Will was done. "That was amazing!"

Will colored slightly. "Thanks. I kept hearing it everywhere, and eventually figured out how to do it on my mandola."

Together, they returned to Castle Redmont.

**Author's Note:**

> a bit of an abrupt ending, i guess, but i've really stopped caring about how good it is. also i think its perfectly obvious that i have no idea how music works. would it be possible to hear a song so much that you can recreate it on an instrument like that? i know its possible to hear a song so much that you can sing it, i've done that a million times. but to be able to recreate it? idk.
> 
> that's about it for today (yesterday), hope you liked it, pls leave comments/kudos if you did, have a nice day!


End file.
